Rebecca Lobb, ScD, MPH | Johns Hopkins | Bloomberg School of Public Health

Assistant Professor of Surgery in the Division of Public Health Sciences at Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri.

Dr. Lobb received a master of public health degree from Boston University School of Public Health and a doctor of science degree from Harvard University School of Public Health. She completed a two-year post-doctoral fellowship in health equity intervention research at the Centre for Research on Inner City Health, St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto, ON. Currently she is Assistant Professor of Surgery in the Division of Public Health Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis. Dr. Lobb’s research program develops strategies to improve the use of evidence-based practices for cancer prevention and control in clinical and community settings that serve patients vulnerable to inequities in cancer outcomes. This includes community-based research that improved access to cancer screening for South Asian residents in the greater Toronto area through increased collaboration among healthcare, public health and community-based organizations and implementation of a lay navigator program. Dr. Lobb’s active research includes a National Cancer Institute (NCI) funded study, Strategies to Improve Colonoscopy (STIC), that is being conducted in 6 hospitals in the greater St. Louis area. STIC examines the effect of an implementation toolkit on clinic staff adoption of evidence-base practices to educate patients about bowel preparation before outpatient colonoscopy. Secondary outcomes include adequacy of bowel preparation for patients and adenoma detection rates. Another study led by Dr. Lobb is funded by NCI and the American Cancer Society and uses mixed methods research to lay the groundwork for improvements to the diagnostic process for breast cancer screening in rural areas. The study uses structured surveys and in-depth interviews with clinicians, staff and patients from rural primary care clinics to ascertain their perspectives on factors that support or hinder the diagnostic process for breast cancer.